“Not of special interest”. Finnish court upholds the deportation of Roman Golikov, a Russian activist who fled mobilisation and donated to Navalny

While living in Russia, Golikov donated money to Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF, or FBK in Russian) between 2021 and 2022, continuing even after the Russian authorities outlawed the organisation as “extremist”. He also served as an election monitor in Moscow and participated in opposition rallies from 2019 to 2022.

Golikov entered Finland on a tourist visa just a week before Putin announced his “partial mobilisation” in September 2022. He decided to remain in the country and seek asylum. While awaiting refugee status, he actively participated in rallies supporting Ukraine.

According to the court ruling reviewed by Mediazona, the Administrative Court accepted the facts presented in Golikov’s petition as credible but deemed them insufficient to grant asylum. The court noted that although draft officers had attempted to deliver a mobilisation summons to his registered address in Russia, there was insufficient evidence to suggest he would face prosecution for draft evasion.

In its analysis of the threat of criminal prosecution, the Finnish court cited detailed data on escalating repressions in Russia, referencing statistics from OVD-Info human rights monitoring group, reports from the U.S. State Department and the E.U. Agency for Asylum. “In 2023, among those prosecuted, there were reportedly both prominent opposition figures and ordinary individuals who had no prior activism background,” the ruling stated. The court also extensively recounted Mediazona’s own investigation into the mass repressions targeting individuals who donated to Navalny’s organisation.

Despite this, the court concluded that Golikov “cannot be considered an object of special interest on the part of the authorities in their home country”. Officials argued that his rights had not been seriously violated in the past and that he had been able to leave Russia freely. The court also maintained that Golikov had cited mobilisation as the primary reason he could not return, and his situation “cannot be considered to have significantly changed” due to his political activities.

“The applicant's political activity has been throughout of such a nature and scale that it cannot be considered to arouse special interest from the authorities. Although Russian legislation itself allows for official actions even on the basis of minor political activity, <...> it cannot be stated with sufficient certainty that the applicant will be exposed to a risk of special interest from the authorities or any other party, or serious human rights violations, upon his return to his home country due to his political opinion or political activity,” the ruling read.

Golikov pointed out the inconsistency of Finnish officials to Mediazona. He recounted speaking with another Russian man who arrived in Finland with his wife and child and was granted asylum solely on the basis of having donated to the FBK after it was banned. This person declined to speak with Mediazona.

Golikov’s Russian international travel passport expired in October 2024, and his status as an asylum seeker prevents him from applying for a new one at the Russian embassy. Once the rejection becomes final, Golikov fears he will be sent to the border “with some piece of paper instead of a passport”, a situation he expects will immediately attract the scrutiny of the FSB.

His state-appointed lawyer has suggested appealing the decision to the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland. However, Golikov noted that filing an appeal does not automatically halt the deportation process. A separate injunction must be requested to suspend deportation, and if that request is denied, the Supreme Court might only issue its final ruling after he has already been deported. His lawyer has filed both the appeal and the injunction request, which are currently pending.

In September 2025, Finland’s National Police told the news outlet Vot Tak that 104 Russian citizens who were denied asylum had been deported since the start of the year. Eighteen individuals who refused to leave voluntarily were removed under guard. Activist Maxim Aliev, another asylum seeker, said that those forcibly deported are typically put on a flight to Turkey or transported overland through Estonia to the Narva border crossing.

The independent outlet Verstka reported the case of 31-year-old Pavel Kuzmichev, who claimed asylum in Finland in June 2023 whilst facing a criminal case in Russia for illegal border crossing. After the Finnish Migration Service denied his application, Finnish police placed him on a ferry to Estonia in September 2025, drove him to the Narva border, and handed him directly to Russian border guards. Kuzmichev was immediately detained and is currently in pre-trial detention.

Verstka noted at least three similar cases in 2025, reporting that “some deported Russians are threatened, handed military summonses, and forced to sign non-disclosure agreements and pledges to cooperate with the FSB.”